The Dalai Lama Wins Templeton Prize (Video)

The Dalai Lama today was awarded the 2012 Templeton Prize, given each year to a living person for his or her contribution to spirituality. A monetary award of about $1.7 million will be presented with the prize at a ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 14. It will be the Dalai Lama’s first visit to St. Paul’s.

The Dalai Lama plans to donate the prize money to benefit malnourished children in Africa and Asia, Joint Secretary Tenzin Taklha said.

In announcing the prize, the John Templeton Foundation cited the Dalai Lama’s “long-standing engagement with multiple dimensions of science and with people far beyond his own religious traditions.” The foundation specifically cited the Dalai Lama’s investigative reviews of the power of compassion and its potential to address global problems.

In my recent interview with the Dalai Lama, we discussed compassion, which, along with the idea of interdependence, is the foundation of his teachings.